Archive for the ‘draft’ Category

Storm Thinks Long-Term with Hampton

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012

The unfortunate timing of Keisha Hampton’s injury worked to the Seattle Storm’s advantage. The Storm was able to draft Hampton, considered a possible first-round talent, with the 22nd overall pick in the second round of yesterday’s WNBA Draft because she missed the last two months of her senior season after undergoing surgery on her right knee.

Storm Head Coach and General Manager Brian Agler scouted Hampton before the injury, and multiple times over the course of her career. Agler was impressed by her talent.

“She was a preseason All-American,” he said after the draft. “Versatile type of player; 3-4-type player. We think she’s a lot like Devereaux Peters from Notre Dame, who went No. 3 – maybe not quite as big but better range. There’s a lot of things she can do with the basketball. Very efficient type of player.”

Hampton, an All-Big East First Team pick as a junior, averaged 16.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game before the injury. She scored a season-high 32 points against crosstown rival Northwestern.

The next step for the Storm will be having Hampton meet with the team’s medical staff to determine how close she is to returning to the court. If Hampton is unable to compete in training camp, the most likely outcome is her sitting out the 2012 season to continue the rehabilitation process. That way, the Storm would maintain her rights and be able to bring her to camp in 2013 after she is fully healthy and has potentially spent an offseason playing overseas.

From the Storm’s perspective, that would be like getting an additional draft pick in 2013, which made taking Hampton preferable to selecting a player who might have been waived during training camp. The Connecticut Sun used a similar strategy in drafting wing Danielle McCray seventh overall out of Kansas in 2010. After sitting out that summer, McCray started 23 games as a rookie last season.

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Sparks Win Lottery

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

The Los Angeles Sparks will be adding another big name to 2008 MVP Candace Parker and their group of veteran All-Stars. The Sparks, who had the worst odds entering Thursday’s WNBA Draft Lottery, moved all the way up and will select first in the 2012 WNBA Draft. This is the second No. 1 overall pick for the Sparks, who won the lottery in 2008, allowing them to select Parker out of Tennessee.

The Chicago Sky will pick second as the only Eastern Conference team in the lottery. The Washington Mystics, who also missed out on the playoffs in the East, traded their pick before the season to the Minnesota Lynx, who had a chance to land the No. 1 pick for the third consecutive season. Instead, the defending WNBA champions will pick at No. 3. The Lynx are followed by the Tulsa Shock, which had the best chances of landing one of the top three picks after finishing with the league’s worst record yet still ended up falling to the fourth selection.

Stanford forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike is considered the top prospect in next year’s draft. Other top prospects include Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen from Tennessee, Florida State center Cierra Bravard, Ohio State’s Samantha Prahalis and Miami’s duo of Shenise Johnson and Riquna Williams.

The Storm will not have a first-round pick after sending it to Washington last year as part of the Katie Smith trade. The Storm also gave up its third-round pick in the same deal, but will have two picks in the second round – both its own and the Indiana Fever’s, No. 22 and No. 23 overall.

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WNBA Draft Set for April 11

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

The league announced today that the 2011 WNBA Draft will take place on Monday, April 11 at ESPN’s campus in Bristol, Conn. ESPN2 will again broadcast the first round of the draft, with the final two rounds airing on ESPNU, NBA TV and ESPN3.com.

The Storm holds the 12th overall pick, as well as the No. 24 and No. 36 selections in the second and third rounds, respectively.

One of the draft’s most interesting players will be Australian center Liz Cambage, who could be drafted as high as second overall but has yet to commit to playing in the WNBA this season. SwishAppeal.com takes a look at Cambage’s situation. Jayda Evans argues in her blog that coming to the WNBA would help Cambage’s development.

Other links from around the ‘net:

- Evans writes about Swin Cash re-signing.

- Cash had a couple of blogs last week for Slamonline.com.The first one remembered her Uncle Quick, who recently passed away unexpectedly.

Over the last month I have been reminded of one thing for sure; never take things or people for granted.

She also discussed her experience at NBA All-Star Weekend and former UConn teammate Diana Taurasi being cleared of doping allegations in Turkey.

Seriously though, the weekend was packed with fun, business, and most importantly giving back to the fans and community. I’m always so excited to see the commitment to social awareness the NBA, WNBA and its partners have. Y’all know I didn’t mind walking a few red carpets either! After wearing sweats non-stop for two and half months I was eager to play dress up.

- Lauren Jackson was  a guest recently on the Australian talk show Adam Hills in Gordon St. Tonight. Check out the entertaining interview, during which Jackson talks about how lucky she was to be drafted by the Storm.

- Portland Trail Blazers guard Patrick Mills, like Jackson a native of Australia, is raising money to help with relief of the floods that occurred in Australia in December. Check out Mills’ website for how you can contribute by purchasing a T-shirt.

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Lynx Win Draft Lottery

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

The Minnesota Lynx have the right lucky charms when it comes to the WNBA Draft Lottery. For the second consecutive year, the Lynx hit the lottery jackpot on Tuesday at the league’s meetings in New York. By virtue of holding two of the four picks in the lottery – their own and the Connecticut Sun’s – Minnesota had nearly as good a chance of winning the lotto as the Tulsa Shock, which finished with the league’s worst record. Ultimately, it was the Lynx’s combination (not the Sun’s) that came up when the No. 1 overall pick was drawn.

Minnesota traded last year’s top pick to Connecticut, but figures to hang on to this year’s selection to pair with 2006 No. 1 pick Seimone Augustus and the rest of a talented core that is still working to translate that promise into results on the floor. The overwhelming expectation is that University of Connecticut forward Maya Moore will be the top pick next April after winning the Wade Trophy each of the last two years and other national player of the year honors (including the Naismith Trophy and the Wooden Award) as a sophomore.

The Lynx will also pick fourth overall with the selection acquired from the Sun. The Shock landed the No. 2 pick, while the Chicago Sky will pick third. By virtue of the WNBA’s best regular-season record, the Storm holds the 12th and final pick in the first round.

Beyond Moore, other top prospects include Australian center Elizabeth Cambage and Xavier teammates Amber Harris and Ta’Shia Phillips.

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Draft Week Begins; Championship Game Set

Monday, April 6th, 2009

We’re now less than 72 hours away from the 2009 WNBA Draft. Anticipation seems to build a little slower than with the NBA equivalent because attention is still focused on the Final Four. Last night’s action delivered one classic semifinal and one that was, um, not classic. UConn looks unstoppable en route to a perfect season that has yet to see the Huskies even be challenged. The last obstacle in their way will be Louisville, which already lost twice to UConn, including a lopsided defeat in the Big East Tournament title game.

Back then, the Cardinals looked nothing like the confident group that has rallied behind Angel McCoughtry and “brutally honest” Head Coach Jeff Walz to knock off a pair of No. 1 seeds, first Maryland and now Oklahoma. I picked Louisville to reach the Final Four, but I did not expect them to be able to contain Courtney Paris. I watched the first half of the game before missing the Cardinals’ second-half comeback until seeing the climactic final minute. When I tuned back in and saw the score with Louisville leading, I was stunned.

McCoughtry has taken glee in disproving doubters at every stage ofLouisville’s run, and there will be plenty of them going into tomorrow’s national championship game on ESPN (including me), so there will be no shortage of motivation in trying to do the impossible and knock off UConn.

If you haven’t gotten a chance to watch McCoughtry play, this is your last chance to do so before she’s taken in Thursday’s WNBA Draft, possibly with the top overall pick. Connecticut’s Renee Montgomery is also a potential top-five pick, while Louisville forward Candyce Bingham may go in the second or third round.

In other draft news, the WNBA announced last week the 15 players who have been invited to attend the draft in Secaucus. WNBA.com’s Brian Martin also posted his mock first round, which has the Storm taking Duke center Chante Black. Black is one of the five centers featured in today’s final position breakdown on storm.wnba.com.

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WNBA Draft Viewing Tonight

Monday, March 30th, 2009

Coleman
McCoughtry

If you’re interested in watching the likely top picks in the 2009 WNBA Draft as they complete their college careers, tonight offers a terrific matchup. Louisville and Maryland will square off at 4 p.m. Pacific on ESPN with a spot in the Final Four on the line. That means a matchup between Louisville’s Angel McCoughtry and Maryland’s Marissa Coleman, the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in my first mock draft. McCoughtry and Coleman will likely end up going against each other much of the evening.

The Terrapins also feature senior Kristi Toliver, who could be the first guard selected and topped storm.wnba.com’s rankings of the point guards released last Friday. Louisville forward Candyce Bingham is another senior prospect.

Tonight’s second regional final, Stanford-Iowa State, is not as big in terms of the draft. Cardinal forward Jillian Harmon is the top senior prospect on display, with Stanford’s top players still underclassmen. Still, Iowa State will be looking to complete an improbable run to the Final Four while Stanford looks to get back for a second straight year with the benefit of a friendly crowd in nearby Berkeley. That matchup follows Maryland-Louisville on ESPN2.

While watching Saturday’s games, I shared some thoughts on Twitter, including my belief that Coleman might just be the best prospect available.

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